"Prince Harry. Give him a break," he tweeted. "He may be on the public payroll one way or another, but the public loves him, even to enjoy Las Vegas."

Murdoch's comments come after one of his own titles, The Sun, became the first British publication to print the compromising photos of the prince taken during a game of "strip billiards".

According to The Guardian, the public have made more than 850 complaints to the press watchdog since the photographs were published in Friday's edition of the tabloid. The majority are said to have deemed the move an invasion of privacy and are to be investigated in due course.

On Saturday, Murdoch tweeted US journalist Sergio Bichao, who had praised his decision to publish the photos: "Thanks! Needed to demonstrate no such thing as free press in UK. Internet makes mockery of these issues. Ist amendment please."

The Independent previously reported that 81-year-old Murdoch ordered staff at The Sun to publish the images because he wanted to "fire a warning shot" at Lord Justice Leveson. News International has refused to comment on the suggestions.

The Sun argued that printing the photographs, which were first made public on US site TMZ, was within the public interest and acted as a "crucial" test of the country's free press.